Russia has backed out of a deal on oil shipments to neighboring Belarus, the Belarussian President Alexandr Lukashenko wrote on his Web Site Thursday.
The president claims the two countries agreed Dec. 10 that Russia would ship oil to Belarus without export duty for the first two to three months of 2010.
Lukashenko sent a letter to Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev, the statement says. The letter itself isn't published.
Russia began curbing supplies through the Druzhba pipeline to Belarus's domestic market after a pricing deal between the two countries expired Dec. 31.